World XC Championships Japanese Results

In the absence of a full Ethiopian U20 contingent after visa issues, the U20 women's squad led the way for the Japanese team at this year's World Cross Country Championships with a team bronze medal. Yui Onotora had the best individual Japanese placing across any of the day's races at 14th to lead Japan's U20 women, with scoring members Wakana Fukuyama, Mona Utsunomiya and Mei Hosomi all making the top 30. But with Ethiopian women going 1-2-5 they would surely have knocked Japan out of the medals if they'd been able to field a full team.

Led by Haruki Niizuma in 15th, the U20 men had the next-best Japanese team placing at 6th, although they also benefitted by one place from the lack of a full Ethiopian team. Junsei Murakami was the only other Japanese runner in the race to make top 30, finishing 21st.

The mixed relay team of Takumi Shiobara, Yuzu Nishide, Kiyoto Ono and Momoa Yamada was 10th out of 15, while the senior men took 12th led by Ryuto Igawa in 51st. Only 3 Japanese women ran in the senior women's race, not enough to score in team results, with Wakana Itsuki the top placer at 48th.

World Athletics Cross Country Championships

Tallahassee, U.S.A., 10 Jan. 2026

complete results

Mixed Relay

1. Australia - 22:23

2. France - 22:26

3. Ethiopia - 22:34

-----

10. Japan - 24:08

U20 Women

1. Marta Alemayo (Ethiopia) - 18:52

2. Wosane Asefa (Ethiopia) - 19:18

3. Charity Cherop (Uganda) - 19:19

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14. Yui Onotora (Japan) - 20:25

22. Wakana Fukuyama (Japan) - 20:56

25. Mona Utsunomiya (Japan) - 21:03

26. Mei Hosomi (Japan) - 21:04

29. Michi Kawanishi (Japan) - 21:18

31. Airi Mashiba (Japan) - 21:20

Team

1. Uganda - 29

2. Kenya - 29

3. Japan - 87

U20 Men

1. Frankline Kibet (Kenya) - 23:18

2. Emmanuel Kiprono (Kenya) - 23:20

3. Andrew Kiptoo Alamisi (Kenya) - 23:28

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15. Haruki Niizuma (Japan) - 24:31

21. Junsei Murakami (Japan) - 25:17

31. Ojiro Honda (Japan) - 25:52

46. Kota Tamura (Japan) - 26:26

DNF - Rikuto Ikeya (Japan)

DNF - Kain Inagaki (Japan)

Team

1. Kenya - 10

2. Uganda - 31

3. U.S.A. - 75

-----

6. Japan - 113

Senior Women

1. Agnes Jebet Ngetich (Kenya) - 31:28

2. Joy Cheptoyek (Uganda) - 32:10

3. Senayet Getachew (Ethiopia) - 32:13

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48. Wakana Itsuki (Japan) - 35:57

53. Momoka Kawaguchi (Japan) - 36:21

60. Sora Shinozakura (Japan) - 37:10

Team

1. Ethiopia - 19

2. Kenya - 36

3. Uganda - 37

Senior Men

1. Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda) - 28:18

2. Berihu Aregawi (Ethiopia) - 28:36

3. Daniel Simiu Ebenyo (Kenya) - 28:45

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51. Ryuto Igawa (Japan) - 31:13

52. Yuma Shimoo (Japan) - 31:14

62. Hiroto Yoshioka (Japan) - 31:39

77. Daiki Ozawa (Japan) - 32:44

Team

1. Ethiopia - 30

2. Kenya - 34

3. Uganda - 39

-----

12. Japan - 242

More Changes Coming to the New Year Ekiden

The national corporate federation announced on Mar. 16 that beginning with the 71st edition of the New Year Ekiden men's national championship race on Jan. 1, 2027, teams will have a choice of stages that non-Japanese team members are eligible to run. The lengths of some stages will also be changed. Teams competing in the New Year Ekiden are restricted to fielding one non-Japanese athlete, and since 2009 foreign athletes have been restricted to running the event's shortest stage, the so-called "International Stage." Until 2023 that was the race's 2nd leg, but since 2024 it has been on its 7.6 km 4th stage. The federation had already announced the introduction of a seeded bracket like other major ekidens to improve the competition by creating deeper racing for place, not just for the lead, over the 2nd half of the race. Teams will now be able to choose whether to position their non-Japanese athletes on the 4th or 6th legs, increasing the opportunities for Japanese...

Japan's Team for World Indoor Championships

Japan is sending a team of 3 women and 7 men to this weekend's Kujaway Pomorze World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland. A quick look at the lineup with best times in last 3 years: Women 3000 m Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) - 8:33.52 (2025) 60 mH Mako Fukube (NKK) - 8.02 (2026) Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo) - 8.09 (2026) Men 60 m Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 6.53 (2024) Yoshiki Kinashi (Tsukuba Univ. Grad School) - 6.60 (2026) 800 m Allon Tatsunami Clay (Penn State Univ.) - 1:45.17 (2026) 60 mH Shusei Nomoto (Ehime T&F) - 7.59 (2026) Ryota Fujii (Tottori Sports Assoc.) - 7.71 (2024) High Jump Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) - 2.30 m (2026) Tomohiro Shinno (Kraftia) - 2.30 m (2026) © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Nomoto's NR Leads Japanese Results at World Indoor Championships

3 Japanese women and 7 men competed at this weekend's World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, and out of those 5 made their finals. NR holder Nozomi Tanaka was in the 3000 m final, where she was 13th of 14 finishers in 9:07.77 in a race where it took 8:58.18 to get into the medals. Neither Mako Fukube nor Chisato Kiyoyama made the women's 60 mH final, 100 mH NR holder Fukube making the semifinals where she was 7th in SF3 in 8.06 but Kiyoyama eliminated in the first-round heats with an 8.15 for 7th in H5. Fukube was actually faster in the heats, tying her PB with an 8.02 in H6 to move on to the semis. On the men's side, Shusei Nomoto came in hot in the 60 mH, tying his PB of 7.57 to make the semis and then running a 7.49 NR for 3rd in SF3 to make the final on time. There he ran 7.49 again, 0.06 out of the medals in 6th. Teammate Ryota Fujii ran 7.81 for 6th in his opening round heat and didn't make the semifinals. Allon Tatsunami Clay was a...

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